Supreme Court
No Justice In Judicial Salaries

By REUVEN BLAU

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts in his year-end report strongly urged Congress to increase pay for Federal judges, calling the current situation a "constitutional crisis."

JOHN G. ROBERTS: Judges' pay a crime.

In an eight-page report dedicated entirely to the pay issue, Mr. Roberts noted that the 679 full-time U.S. District Court Judges are paid $165,200 annually, which is roughly half of what university deans and senior law professors earn at major schools. In contrast, in 1969 Federal District Judges made 21 percent more than the dean of a top law school and 43 percent more than senior law professors.

'Undermines Judiciary'

"The issue has been ignored far too long and has now reached the level of a constitutional crisis that threatens to undermine the strength and independence of the Federal judiciary," Justice Roberts said.

Judith S. Kaye, Chief Judge of the State of New York, has been lobbying the State Legislature for the past several years to increase salaries for local judges. "We are working with the new Governor on that," said David Bookstaver, the chief spokesman for the Office of Court Administration. "This is at the very top of our agenda. We agree with Judge Roberts that it has become a crisis."

JUDITH S. KAYE: A concurring opinion.

In an unusual move, four judges Jan. 2 filed a lawsuit in Nassau County Supreme Court seeking to force Governor Spitzer and the Legislature to increase state judges' salaries by as much as 30 percent.

Justice Roberts pointed out that adjusting for inflation, since 1969 the average U.S. worker's wages have risen 17.8 percent, while Federal judicial pay has declined 23.9 percent.

U.S. appeals court judges receive $175,100, Associate Justices of the Supreme Court make $203,000, and the Chief Justice gets $212,100.

'Getting Fewer of Best'

Justice Roberts noted that during the Eisenhower Administration, roughly 65 percent of the Federal judges came from the practicing bar, with 35 percent from the public sector. Currently, those figures are virtually reversed, with approximately 60 percent from the public sector. "It changes the nature of the Federal judiciary when judges are no longer primarily drawn from among the best lawyers in the practicing bar," Mr. Roberts said.

In the past six years, he added, 38 judges have left the Federal bench, including 17 in the last two years. "The numbers are sobering," he asserted. "If judicial appointment ceases to be the capstone of a distinguished career and instead becomes a stepping stone to a lucrative position in private practice, the Framers' goal of a truly independent judiciary will be placed in serious jeopardy."

Legislation that would have provided a 16-percent increase in Federal judges' salaries stalled last year. The measure was sponsored by Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California, Patrick Leahy of Vermont and John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Mr. Leahy, the new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told the Associated Press that he would work with his congressional colleagues this year "to fairly evaluate this issue and the Chief's arguments so that we can see what solutions may be possible."

Not a New Issue

Justice Roberts called the prior inaction "grievously unfair." He noted that his predecessor, William H. Rehnquist, focused on the inadequacy of judicial compensation nearly 20 years ago.

In response, Congress passed the Ethics Reform Act in 1989. "However, the mechanisms set up in that Act to prevent future salary erosion have failed, and judicial salaries have continued to fall further and further behind the cost of living," Mr. Roberts said. "A bad situation once again has reached the level of a crisis."

Concerning state judges, Ms. Kaye plans to address the issue anew during her annual State of the Judiciary speech set for Feb. 25. "It is a profoundly unfair and demoralizing situation," she asserted during her address in 2006. "While we anticipated that some financial sacrifice would be associated with a career in public service, surely no one could have expected only two in increases in 18 years."

Last year, then-Governor Pataki submitted a proposal to hike the pay of a State Supreme Court Justice from $136,700 to $162,100, which was the salary of Federal District Judges at the time.

'We Have Expenses, Too'

"Like everyone else, judges have financial obligations that come with everyday life - like mortgages, rent, college tuition - and the cost of living has skyrocketed, thus in reality eroding and reducing their compensation," Ms. Kaye said last year.

Judiciary committees in both houses of the Legislature endorsed the pay increase measure, but the process was complicated by Albany politics. Traditionally, judges' pay increases have been paired with salary boosts for members of the Legislature and high-level officials of the executive branch of government. The Legislature, however, was not included in the proposed bill because state legislators typically raise their wages only after an election year.

Ms. Kaye had called for the creation of a permanent process for examining the salaries of judges, legislators, and executive branch officials and routinely boosting their pay to reflect cost-of-living increases.